Chair of CEN INVEST Pham Thanh Hung, known as Shark Hung, said at the 2019 Venture Summit that he is interested in property technology, or proptech, such as house designing software, smarthome services and remote control.

 

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Chair of CEN INVEST Pham Thanh Hung

 

“We are also interested in collecting big data related to real estate. We need to know who wants to buy houses to solve our business questions,” Hung said.

He stressed that he is not an angel investor and he only pays attention to startups whose products are ready.

Meanwhile, Kyle F. Kelhofer from IFC said with the aim of supporting developing countries and helping reduce poverty, IFC mostly injects money into startups in the logistics industry to serve import/export activities, consumers and agriculture.

E-commerce needs a lot of money to change consumer and market behaviors. With the big investment wave, not only e-commerce but other supporting industries such as e-payment and logistics will also get big benefits.

“Honestly speaking, we also need money to maintain our operation, so we are very concerned about the sustainability of businesses. We are seeking long term solutions,” he said

Hanno Stegmann from BCG Digital Ventures said there are some things in common between him, Shark Hung and IFC director, and that he is also interested in logistics firms.

Meanwhile, Tran Huu Duc, CEO of VIISA.vn, is intersted in breakthrough solutions in fintech and healthtech.

However, e-commerce received the highest volume of capital from foreign investors.

Chair of 24h Phan Minh Tam commented that in the short term, though e-commerce is a very ‘costly game’, it is still attracting foreign investors.

E-commerce needs a lot of money to change consumer and market behaviors. With the big investment wave, not only e-commerce but other supporting industries such as e-payment and logistics will also get big benefits.

Analysts say that e-commerce is a ‘money burning industry’ because e-commerce firms have to spend big money every day and still incur losses. Despite big losses, they have to pour money into business.

However, investors can see great opportunities in the industry. The great achievements that Amazon gained in the US, Alibaba in China and Rakuten in Japan may have encouraged investors to continue injecting money into e-commerce firms in Vietnam.

Dau Tu newspaper cited a report from Nielsen as showing that the annual growth of the e-commerce market is 22 percent.

As for the prospects in e-commerce sector, Nguyen Lan Trung Anh, CEO of Phoenix Holdings said there are opportunities for new founders and traditional retailers to regain market share from sendo.vn and Lazada. The market is not only open to purely online companies, but also traditional retailers shifting to develop technology.

Kim Chi

 

Facilitating venture capital towards Vietnamese startup development

Facilitating venture capital towards Vietnamese startup development

Vietnam is working hard to unclog financial resources to develop a knowledge-based digital economy amid the wide influences of Industry 4.0.

Venture funds pledge US$425m for Vietnamese startups

Venture funds pledge US$425m for Vietnamese startups

As many as 18 domestic and foreign venture funds attending the Vietnam Venture Summit 2019, which opened in Hanoi yesterday, have committed a total of US$425 million for Vietnamese startups over the next three years.